Have you ever had furniture pieces you wanted or needed to sell? Trying to sell furniture can seem overwhelming.
However, there are dozens of ways to sell furniture, both online and locally near you.
Here is some information on where you can sell your furniture. But first, let’s talk about why you might want to sell furniture – either yours or someone else’s.
That way you can get ideas for a potential way to make some extra cash.
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Why You Might Like to Sell Furniture
Selling furniture, like anything else, has its pros and cons. As a drawback, it can be tedious to transport. However, one piece of furniture can bring a much higher profit than other smaller items.
You might make $10 if you sell a shirt. But you might make $100 or even more if you sell a piece of furniture.
If you have furniture of your own to sell, you could make money fast. And if you want to make a business out of it, you could find furniture to buy for cheap. Then resell it at a profit.
Does this sound like a great side hustle idea for you? If so, consider these options to sell furniture online or locally. We’ll start with places you can sell furniture locally.
Ways to Sell Furniture Locally
If you don’t want to have to deal with shipping furniture, you can always sell locally. By targeting potential buyers near you, you can sell furniture to people who aren’t far away.
This often means faster – and easier – cash. And people like to buy locally because they can go and look at the piece of furniture.
Whereas, when you’re buying online, you take more of a risk that what you see is what you’ll get. Here are some ideas for selling furniture near you.
1. Garage Sales
Yes, the good old-fashioned garage sale. This is a great place to sell furniture when the weather is warm.
Many people still like to shop at garage sales. They can come, look at a piece and get a good idea if it’s what they really want.
And if they’d planned on buying something, they often have a truck with them ready to haul. Advertise your garage sale in local papers for more exposure.
If you can get in on a citywide sale weekend, that’s even better. People will be driving around going to garage sales anyway.
Holding neighborhood-wide garage sales or multi-family garage sales is a good way to get more visitors too. You could also advertise your garage sale on online garage sale sites like Garage Sale Finder.
Garage Sale Finder is a site where people list their sale dates and others look to find sales. The more places you list your garage sale, the more people are likely to see it and buy your furniture.
2. Estate Sales
Estate sales are a bit different than garage sales. People hold estate sales to sell a LOT of stuff from a house or estate.
For instance, you might hold an estate sale if you’re downsizing from a home to an apartment.
You can hold an estate sale yourself, or use a professional estate sale team.
Those specializing in conducting estate sales come in, appraise your items and sell them in an auction type of setting. You pay them a flat fee or a percentage of items sold, whatever their policy dictates.
They might hold the auction right on your property or at an auction house. You can use a site like Estate Sale to find an estate sale professional. Or you can use the site to advertise your sale as an individual.
3. Consignment Shops
Consignment shops can be another great place to sell furniture. A consignment shop is a local store that sells used items for others and takes a percentage of the profit.
If you do an internet search for “consignment shops near me,” you should be able to find some in your area. Note that all consignment shops have different rules about what items they’ll take to sell.
Read over each shop’s rules so you can choose the best consignment shops in your area.
In addition, they all have different rules about what they charge for commission as well.
If you like the idea of having someone else house the furniture you sell, consider selling via consignment shops. Just know that you’ll be sharing a portion of the sales price.
4. Your Local Newspaper
Yes, local newspapers still exist! And they often have advertising sections where you could list your furniture for sale.
You can list your items for sale in large, citywide papers. Or you can target smaller, local papers for your furniture ads.
Typically, newspapers charge for placing ads. So you’ll have to take into account the ad’s price as you consider profit.
For instance, you could try raising the furniture piece you’re selling by the price of what you spend on advertising.
When advertising in newspaper ads, be sure to highlight the benefits of the piece. Also, be honest about any defects such as stains or tears.
Honesty in advertising can go a long way with potential buyers. And it’ll help you avoid wasting time as you show the furniture to potential buyers.
5. Antique Stores
Antique stores can be another avenue for selling furniture. Of course, many antique stores will only allow you to sell your furniture there if it’s over a certain number of years old.
However, each antique store has different rules, so check with the person in charge. And as with consignment shops, antique stores may function differently.
Some antique stores might take your furniture on consignment. Conversely, other stores will offer a buy price outright and then sell it on their own at a profit.
Be sure to talk with a few different antique stores in your area to find the best deal for you.
6. Used Furniture Stores
Used furniture stores can work a bit differently than other options we’ve mentioned here so far. Typically, a used furniture store employee will come and assess a potential price to buy your piece.
They’ll buy it outright and resell it. But some furniture stores will give you cash for your furniture piece. And still, others might provide you with store credit instead.
If you’re looking to replace the piece you’re selling, then store credit can be a great option. However, if you’re just looking to get the cash, be sure to check store rules before agreeing to a sale.
As mentioned earlier, doing an internet search for what you’re looking for can help. Searching for “used furniture stores” can be a good way to find one near you.
7. Flea Markets
Flea markets can be another great source for selling furniture. Typically, there are two types of flea markets:
- Temporary, moving flea markets that go from city to city
- Permanent, stationary flea markets housed in malls or other shopping meccas
Flea market organizers and/or owners charge a flat fee for a booth or a percentage of a sale, depending on how they work.
When you’re selling large furniture pieces, a permanent flea market would be the easiest to use.
But if you’re selling one or two large pieces and lots of small pieces, the temporary flea markets could work too.
Most temporary flea markets last for a few days. People that live in the area can come, rent a space and sell. Or some sellers might choose to follow the market to other towns.
It would be more difficult if you were selling large furniture pieces regularly. The time and gas money to haul a trailer could reduce your profits immensely.
Look for flea markets in your area to find more about whether selling at them would be right for you.
We’ve gone over some ways to sell furniture locally. Now, let’s talk about some ways to sell furniture online.
Ways to Sell Furniture Online
There are several sites you can use to sell furniture online. Look over the details on the list here and see if any might work for you.
8. Facebook
Facebook can be a great way to advertise online for furniture you want to sell. Typically, most of your Facebook buyers will be local. Of course, you can designate if you only want to deal with local buyers.
It’s free to list on Facebook, and there are no selling fees. You can sell through a local buy and sell group or by posting a listing on Facebook Marketplace.
And when you list an item, you can share it on your personal Facebook page. Also, ask your Facebook friends to do the same.
Price your furniture and other items attractively and take good pictures for the best results.
9. Craigslist
We put Craigslist on the online selling list because you might attract out-of-town buyers as well as local.
With Facebook, you’re typically advertising to people you know. But Craigslist lets you advertise to people all over the country.
Shoppers on Craigslist can check their local Craigslist or check listings for any other city they want.
When selling on Craigslist, a good, honest description is important. So are quality pictures. And take care to price your furniture reasonably. If you set too high a price, people won’t bother looking.
10. OfferUp
OfferUp is technically an online site, but its tagline says it’s the “simpler way to buy and sell locally.” With OfferUp you can instantly message buyers through the website.
Using OfferUp is pretty easy – just post a picture and add a description. The OfferUp website says it takes less than 30 seconds.
OfferUp protects sellers (and buyers) in several ways. First, all offers are made through the OfferUp app, so they always know when you’ve made a deal. Then they collect payment from your buyer as soon as you accept an offer.
Second, OfferUp holds the money until you’ve made your delivery. In this way the site protects buyers.
Third, another way OfferUp protects members is that they keep all transaction information private.
That way you won’t be sharing any personal information with buyers. Note that OfferUp gives buyers two days after delivery to evaluate an item before they release sales funds.
Then they’ll deposit your money into the account you’ve got designated within five business days. Note: you can sell nationwide on OfferUp.
However, if you do, there will be shipping fees associated with your sale. But you can choose to pass those shipping fees onto your buyer when you list.
Similar to Craigslist, there are typically no listing or selling fees with OfferUp. Although they will charge a fee if you need to print a shipping label.
11. Letgo
Letgo is a buy/sell site that works similar to Craigslist. It’s for people to buy and sell in their neighborhood or nearby.
There are no listing or selling fees with Letgo. Additionally, buyers and sellers are solely responsible for handling negotiations and payments.
As with similar sites, Letgo suggests you use safety precautions when selling to or buying from strangers. For example, meet in a public place. And let others know where you’re going and when you’ll be back.
Agree to take a cash payment, or meet at the buyer’s bank where you can verify funds. This way you can cash a check right away.
12. Trove Market
Trove Market specializes in helping people buy and sell used furniture online. Selling furniture on Trove Market is totally free. They used to support credit card sales, but now only facilitate cash deals.
Trove Market operates in select U.S. cities, including:
- Atlanta
- Chicago
- Dallas
- Los Angeles
- New York
- Seattle
And more. If you live in one of the major cities Trove Market supports – or a nearby area – you can list there. They have a lot of vintage furniture as well as many unique items on this site.
13. eBay
The nice thing about selling furniture on eBay is that you get exposure to a bigger buyer’s market. eBay attracts buyers from all over the world.
However, when selling furniture to an out-of-town buyer, you’re going to have to deal with shipping.
It’s up to you to decide whether it’s worth the added exposure to deal with shipping.
You could list pick-up only on your eBay listing, but that will limit your buyer field.
It’s free to list furniture on eBay, but they do charge for selling. You could pay up to 10% in fees once you sell an item.
For that reason, you might want to increase your asking price to cover the added expense you’ll pay.
14. Etsy
Selling furniture on Etsy could work for you too. Etsy has rules about selling; your items need to be vintage, handmade or fall into the craft item category.
If you have vintage or handmade furniture pieces, you could sell them on Etsy. It costs 20 cents to list an item for sale on Etsy, and the listing lasts four months.
Once you sell, you’ll pay a 5% selling fee. There could be additional fees depending on the types of payment you accept.
If you sell to an out-of-town buyer there will be shipping you’ll need to handle too.
You can have the buyer pay shipping costs, or factor them into the selling price.
15. Sell.com
Sell.com is an online marketplace where you can list your furniture pieces for just $1. Buyers can search by item name or by location.
This site has been around for 20 years. It’s a pretty basic site, but some people do use it to list furniture and other household goods.
16. Sotheby’s Home
Sotheby’s Home lets you sell higher end name brand furniture on consignment. The online site accepts a variety of furniture brands at different times.
They have several criteria for listing furniture pieces on the site:
- Required to list item for a minimum of $1,000
- Need to be a designer brand, vintage or vintage design
- Must be in excellent or good condition or be able to be restored with minimum TLC
There is a 50% commission charge if you sell under 20 pieces. But if you have more than 20, it drops to a 40% commission charge.
All pieces must be examined and approved by a commission liaison before listing.
17. Chairish
Chairish focuses on selling chic and vintage furniture pieces. As with Sotheby’s Home, Chairish will have a curator assess your listing before they publish it. However, they do this online, not in person.
There is no separate charge to list furniture on the site. And Chairish pays you a minimum of 80% of the selling price of each piece.
They also offer several shipping options for out-of-town buyers.
Chairish buyers will pay you for the furniture you sell via PayPal.
18. AptDeco
The AptDeco website touts itself as “the easiest way to buy and sell furniture.” Note that this site focuses on sellers that live in New York City and surrounding areas.
You can list if you live outside of this area. Although, AptDeco will charge you additional fees to do so.
The site says it charges 19% to 29% commission. You’ll pay a commission amount depending on how much the item sells for. The higher the sale price, the lower the commission you pay.
Listing is free, and they’ll handle the shipping details. All listings must be approved by AptDeco staff before they published it.
However, the site says it typically takes less than 8 hours to assess a listing. Once your item sells, you’ll get payment within 2-5 days of confirmed delivery.
19. Apartment Therapy
Apartment Therapy is a peer-to-peer marketplace with no listing or selling fees. It’s for selling used furniture. Or new furniture that you or your company didn’t produce.
In other words, you can sell new items as long as you or your company didn’t make them. But the site is not meant for regular retail sales.
Apartment Therapy features lots of vintage items. But there are no parameters regarding what kinds of furniture you can sell there.
Buyers can search the site by item or by area or both. As a seller, you can list items for personal pickup, or you can designate that you’ll ship them.
The site has a list of conduct and ethics rules to help keep buyers and sellers safe. Also, they have automated tools to help you detect spammers or other fraudulent activity.
20. 1stdibs
1stdibs allows you to sell higher end vintage and modern furniture pieces. To sell on 1stdibs, you need to submit an application and be approved by 1stdibs staff.
The site focuses on people who sell in the retail market; designers, etc. However, you can sell personal items if you get approved.
This site might not be the best to use if you only have one item to sell (unless it’s a high-end item in great shape). The approval process will take too much time and effort.
However, if you plan on doing business selling furniture, 1stdibs could be worth checking out. It’s especially true if you’re going to sell higher end items.
The site doesn’t mention what fees and commission structures are in place for sellers. You’d have to contact them directly for that information.
21. Recycler
Recycler is a free online ad site. It lets you list furniture and other items free. The website is open to ads for things such as furniture, cars and trucks, pets, real estate rentals, etc.
You can list your furniture for sale no matter where you live. However, note that your particular area might not have as much traffic on Recycler as other regions do.
The site was first started in 1995 out of Southern California but re-launched as a national website in 2010.
They have a customer service center that is available via email if you have any questions at all about selling on the site.
22. Oodle
Oodle Marketplace is another website that will let you list and sell your furniture for free. The site is a lot smaller than some of the other ones we’ve mentioned here.
Therefore I wouldn’t necessarily use it as your primary form of advertising. However, it wouldn’t hurt to add it to this site as you’re posting on other places as well.
You can list pretty much anything you want on the site. I noticed the site featured listings from retailers as well.
When you pull up the Oodle website, it will bring you straight to listings for a city near you.
Also, if you type the city you want to shop in into the site’s search bar, it will bring up listings from that city.
23. Bonanza
The Bonanza website says you’ll find “everything but the ordinary” there. It also states that over 12,000 Bonanza sellers recommend the site over top sites such as Amazon and eBay.
There are no listing fees or store fees with Bonanza. However, you will pay selling fees once your item sells. Bonanza fees start at 3.5 percent.
Besides, you can join their advertising program if you are willing to pay between 9 percent and 30 percent commission. Their advertising program ensures the product you’re selling will appear in Google ads.
As with other sites, you’ll have to handle shipping details if you ship to an out-of-town buyer. Sellers can get rated just like they can with eBay or Amazon too.
This info is good to know if you plan on selling multiple items on Bonanza.
24. eBid
eBid is a site that works similar to eBay. It currently operates in 23 countries, including:
- The United Kingdom
- The United States
- Canada
- Australia
- Ireland
- Italy
- France
Listing on eBid is free, and you’ll pay up to 3 percent when your furniture piece sells. Note that you can add extras to your listings, such as “Front page” or “featured” item listings.
However, there are fees to do so. The site lets you list the location of your item as well as shipping details. Along with the auction option, you can offer a “Buy Now” price as well.
eBid has been around since 1998, so it’s got a proven track record of success. The main difference I see between eBid and eBay is that eBid has much lower fees.
Also, eBay may have more listings, but eBid still has millions of listings. This fact proves that it’s a popular choice among sellers and buyers.
25. Bookoo
Bookoo is an online site where you can buy and sell with your neighbors. The site claims they’ve got over 2 million members. They don’t charge any listing or selling fees.
Bookoo doesn’t operate in every city. The front page of the website lists the cities where it’s currently active. But you are welcome to list your item even if you don’t live in one of the cities listed.
However, the site does state that it might be more challenging to sell your item if you live further away. You can use Bookoo if you live in the United States or other countries around the world as well.
Note that depending on where you live, Bookoo may or may not have a lot of listings.
As with Oodle, I wouldn’t necessarily use this is your only source of advertising. But it is another way to get the word out there about furniture or other items you want to sell.
26. Ruby Lane
Ruby Lane focuses on selling antique and vintage items. The site also allows you to sell dolls, art and jewelry.
However, know that Ruby Lane is more of a site to use if you’re planning on selling regularly. You need to open a store with Ruby Lane if you want to sell items.
They charge listing fees of 19 cents per item. Also, monthly store fees are starting at $69.
If you list more than 80 articles, they charge maintenance fees of 30 cents per piece. But the more items you list, the per-item maintenance fee goes down.
Plus, there is a one-time set-up fee of $100 for each store. If you’re planning on doing business selling furniture, this could be a route you’ll want to consider.
27. Sell on Your Own Site
Another option you could use for selling furniture is to open a website of your own. Of course, this would only be a route you’d want to use if you’ll regularly be selling.
Sites such as Shopify make it easy to set up your website. They have pre-made templates and easy-to-follow directions.
If you know a bit about setting up a blog already, you could do so using a hosting site such as Bluehost and set up a WordPress website. Bluehost makes it easy to start a blog in just minutes.
And the WordPress platform is very user-friendly – even if you haven’t ever blogged before. The great thing about selling on your own website is that there are no limits to what you sell.
Also, there are no limits on how you sell it. You can make it your own and advertise however you wish.
Yes, there are costs for running your blog. But if you’re selling enough items, you should be able to make up those costs and still earn a profit.
If you want to make selling furniture into a steady income stream, consider selling on a site of your own.
But note that advertising is vital. You need to spend a lot of time on social media letting others know your website exists.
The fewer people who know about your site, the fewer sales you’ll likely have. Share what you have for sale often via links to your website. Let others know about deals and specials too.
Get them excited about visiting your site and seeing what you have for sale.
Summary
Whether you’re looking for a new side hustle or if you’re going through a time when money is tight, selling furniture can be profitable.
Of course, you need to decide if selling furniture is a good money-making venture for you.
Have you ever sold furniture? If so, what route did you use to sell it? And how did the sale go? Feel free to leave a comment on our Facebook page to share your experience.